30 Cal for medium sized animals?

I have two 22 PCP rifles that I shoot birds and red squirrels with. The owner of the dairy farm I shoot at has asked me to shoot skunks, raccoons and wood chucks.

I think I’ll need a larger caliber? Instead of going one step up, I figured I’d jump to 30 caliber. I was looking at the Hatsan BT-65 Big Bore Carnivore.

My thoughts are that this larger caliber would be more appropriate for a neck or vitals shot, and also longer range.

Thanks for your time and input!!

Looking for all input.
I have two 22 PCP rifles that I shoot birds and red squirrels with. The owner of the dairy farm I shoot at has asked me to shoot skunks, raccoons and wood chucks.
I think I'll need a larger caliber? Instead of going one step up, I figured I'd jump to 30 caliber. I was looking at the Hatsan BT-65 Big Bore Carnivore.
My thoughts are that this larger caliber would be more appropriate for a neck or vitals shot, and also longer range.
Thanks for your time and input!!

Absolutely a .30 can do vital shots better. Don’t get me wrong, a .25 can put down coons just fine on a double lung or head hit at close range, and a magnum powered .25 like a Condor spitting out a highly expanding 25 slug at very high FPE for max bullet expansion and wound channe damage can do it even better to bigger animals and futher range.

But a .30 can do it more quietly and more efficiently. As where most .25s have to strain a bit to get to 70-80fpe or more, it comes natural to most .30s out there. You also get a bigger hole when using pellets. Even if all your pellet does is punch a hole from side to side of the lungs, a .30 hole is a big hole. More and more .30 options for ammo are hitting the market every few months. Swaged slugs are starting to appear. I’ve had a chance to shoot some for R&D purposes but not into a varmint yet.

So yeah, IMHO go with a .30. Its the best all around caliber in my opinion.

Absolutely a .30 can do vital shots better. Don’t get me wrong, a .25 can put down coons just fine on a double lung or head hit at close range, and a magnum powered .25 like a Condor spitting out a highly expanding 25 slug at very high FPE for max bullet expansion and wound channe damage can do it even better to bigger animals and futher range.
But a .30 can do it more quietly and more efficiently. As where most .25s have to strain a bit to get to 70-80fpe or more, it comes natural to most .30s out there. You also get a bigger hole when using pellets. Even if all your pellet does is punch a hole from side to side of the lungs, a .30 hole is a big hole. More and more .30 options for ammo are hitting the market every few months. Swaged slugs are starting to appear. I’ve had a chance to shoot some for R&D purposes but not into a varmint yet.
So yeah, IMHO go with a .30. Its the best all around caliber in my opinion.

[quote="jpb"]Your .22 Streamline on high power should be putting out over 30 ft/lb of energy.... more than enough for your skunks and such.[/quote]
But is that enough energy for a vitals shot? And then there's the distance.....let's say 50 yards.....the 22 wouldn't be pumping out 30fpe at that distance.

I’ve taken out 3 raccoons in trees at distances between 28-45 yards with headshots with a Kalibrgun Cricket in .25 caliber putting out 50 ft lbs and they were dead by the time they hit the ground. That being said, I highly recommend a .30 cal PCP for the kind of work you’re considering doing. I’ve shot everything from .177 to .30 and the .30 is my favorite for pure hunting.
The Matador R5 .30 and Predator Polymag is my favorite hunting combo inside of 50 yards.
My latest hunting is exclusively with the .30 cal due to its increased power and quietness. You’d have to be pushing a 25 cal pellet above 900+ fps to achieve something close to 60ish ft lbs with a lot of noise generated by the increased velocity. I’m shooting my Matador R5 at 850 fps, which is relatively conservative at 71 ft lbs, and it’s quieter than my Cricket .25 shooting at around 950 fps.
Supposedly the Cricket .25 shoots Polymags well too inside of 50 yards, but I have not tested it yet myself.

I've taken out 3 raccoons in trees at distances between 28-45 yards with headshots with a Kalibrgun Cricket in .25 caliber putting out 50 ft lbs and they were dead by the time they hit the ground. That being said, I highly recommend a .30 cal PCP for the kind of work you're considering doing. I've shot everything from .177 to .30 and the .30 is my favorite for pure hunting.
The Matador R5 .30 and Predator Polymag is my favorite hunting combo inside of 50 yards.
My latest hunting is exclusively with the .30 cal due to its increased power and quietness. You'd have to be pushing a 25 cal pellet above 900+ fps to achieve something close to 60ish ft lbs with a lot of noise generated by the increased velocity. I'm shooting my Matador R5 at 850 fps, which is relatively conservative at 71 ft lbs, and it's quieter than my Cricket .25 shooting at around 950 fps.
Supposedly the Cricket .25 shoots Polymags well too inside of 50 yards, but I have not tested it yet myself.

“jpb”Your .22 Streamline on high power should be putting out over 30 ft/lb of energy…. more than enough for your skunks and such.

But is that enough energy for a vitals shot? And then there’s the distance…..let’s say 50 yards…..the 22 wouldn’t be pumping out 30fpe at that distance.

I’m not sure its a matter of energy. You’ve probably got enough energy to send the pellet thru both lungs on a coon sized animal out to a reasonable distance. Its just that the .22 is making a very small hole when you do so, one that could easily clot. The bigger the hole, the more trama to the lungs and the less likely they will clot and recover.

[quote="Bob_O"]
[quote="jpb"]Your .22 Streamline on high power should be putting out over 30 ft/lb of energy.... more than enough for your skunks and such.[/quote]
But is that enough energy for a vitals shot? And then there's the distance.....let's say 50 yards.....the 22 wouldn't be pumping out 30fpe at that distance.[/quote]
I'm not sure its a matter of energy. You've probably got enough energy to send the pellet thru both lungs on a coon sized animal out to a reasonable distance. Its just that the .22 is making a very small hole when you do so, one that could easily clot. The bigger the hole, the more trama to the lungs and the less likely they will clot and recover.

The BT 65 is a great rifle. I highly recommend to go get it at B. Walton (http://www.bwaltonpcp.net) he sells it tuned for 920 FPS zeroed in so when you get it, the rifle will group under 1″
at 100 yards. The factory LDC is good but he also has his own and the DonnyFL LDC which will drop the decibels down to the low 40-42DB and that is super quiet.http://www.bwaltonpcp.net/store/1ua/bwalton-30cal–

The BT 65 is a great rifle. I highly recommend to go get it at B. Walton ([url=http://www.bwaltonpcp.net]www.bwaltonpcp.net[/url]) he sells it tuned for 920 FPS zeroed in so when you get it, the rifle will group under 1"
at 100 yards. The factory LDC is good but he also has his own and the DonnyFL LDC which will drop the decibels down to the low 40-42DB and that is super quiet.
[url]http://www.bwaltonpcp.net/store/1ua/bwalton-30cal[/url]-
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlxlX_uZQ5c[/url]
( <.825 CTC @ 100 Yards!)
With his tune

I’ve seriously considered getting a .25 Streamline in laminate stock. Beautiful gun….and I love my Streamline 22. Still holding off for now.

Presently I’m set up at a farm where raccoons have been visiting…killed a duck a few nights ago. The farmer asked me to do what I could so I’m all set up looking over this grain (corn) bin at about the distance my S410F TDR 22 is zeroed at.
It’s loaded with 21gr NSA hollow point slugs. On high power it should pack a punch.

If i need to get out and pursue, I have a 22 rimfire pistol with HV varmint rounds in it.
It’ll be dark in 30 min…..the farmer said they come around dark. If i can get one I’ll be thrilled. Multiple will be icing on a cake I’ve not yet had!!

The one thing I forgot to grab…
the Side-Shot!!!

I've seriously considered getting a .25 Streamline in laminate stock. Beautiful gun....and I love my Streamline 22. Still holding off for now.
Presently I'm set up at a farm where raccoons have been visiting...killed a duck a few nights ago. The farmer asked me to do what I could so I'm all set up looking over this grain (corn) bin at about the distance my S410F TDR 22 is zeroed at.
It's loaded with 21gr NSA hollow point slugs. On high power it should pack a punch.
If i need to get out and pursue, I have a 22 rimfire pistol with HV varmint rounds in it.
It'll be dark in 30 min.....the farmer said they come around dark. If i can get one I'll be thrilled. Multiple will be icing on a cake I've not yet had!!
The one thing I forgot to grab...
the Side-Shot!!! :-(
[img]http://airgunnationforum.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ea70728eecf8fb81ee8ab168642ea2b9.jpg[/img]